Moving to Conservers

COOPERATIVES, presented by Kimberly Hunter of Mt. Biz Works (by S. Sunflower) Sixteen people met at the Elections Conference Room, Brevard, on 13 September. This was the second of funding and business structure presentations Moving 2 Conserver sponsored. Kimberly ‘zoomed’ in with a powerpoint show. The fantastic electronics allowed all to talk and see each other, in spite of distance. Conservers asked 3 questions, as we began: Why shouldn’t people use the coop structure? Not if it doesn’t fit originators business interests, coops are voluntary, democratic business tools. See also the Beneficial Corporation/B Corp, as another viable option: https://bcorporation.net. To define shared needs and directions, the ‘Margaret Mead’ discussion process is useful. Can a local public offering/NC PACES Act funding be used with the coop structure? Yes is the short answer. Mt. Biz is mentoring one such developing coop right now. That crowd-funding debut is 20 Sept., in Asheville. (Kim - flyer went home with someone … don’t have Kimberly’ home phone, either) What is the cost of [...]

Last year, Moving to Conservers hosted the Gift of Time pop-up coffee house in downtown Brevard.  You can see a write-up about last year's event here:  https://berightthere.info/events/the-gift-of-time-pop-up-coffeehouse-a-celebration-of-the-joy-in-simplicity/ The focus of the event is to remove the consumerism ascpect of the holidays and focus instead on time together and the immense gift of getting someone's time.  We had a great time last year and are looking forward to doing it again.  We have selected December 15th as the date for the gathering.  We have reserved the gazebo through the county and now we get to plan the fun! Interested in being a part of the planning?  Just let us know by emailing us at [email protected].  Thanks!

Moving to Conservers is organizing a community gathering at Just Ripe Farms in March 2019 to put into action plans for diverting food scraps from our landfill to other uses such as growing food and feeding livestock.  The event will include education, hands-on workshops and local businesses who are working to divert scraps and increase the life of our landfill. Interested in being a part of the planning?  Drop us a note at [email protected].

I love being a part of Moving to Conservers.  People ask me sometimes what the group is about and what our goals are.  Of course, each person has a different reason for joining our gatherings, following our newsletter, or contacting us.  I can only speak for my goals with the group and that is simple:  love. I love the people I share a meal with, have a conversation with and learn from.  I also love the food they bring. Last December we hosted the "Gift of your time" pop-up coffee shop in downtown Brevard.  That event signifies what I believe we are all about. We simply met at the Gazebo and shared warm drinks and treats with friends and people walking past.  We used real cups.  It sent the message we want you to stick around and chat for awhile and folks did.  and that it was a zero-waste, leave no trace gathering. It also highlighted for me that the greatest gift we have to give is our [...]